Why is pink a “girly” color? Does pink limit us or empower us? What is the future of pink?

pink: precious perfect blush staining silk skin, sweet sapling sighing, baby’s posing purpose painted pink: princess prancing in tangled tulle tears, twirling, towering, terrifying imaginations, paying platonic prices pink: piles packed neglected for feminine futures flying, forgotten faux fantasies need patriarchs plowing, pushing pink: plans pervading supernova-sprinkled skies sway sensible support, abdicating poached protagonists praying pink: pregnancy prepares learning balancing bicolor behavior, baiting blue bellies lobbying, please protect power pink: pain prickles societal ideas idolizing imprudent infrastructure, strengthening people pausing passivity pink: plethora of colors that belong to everyone and no one

Process

When I was five years old, my favorite color was pink, and most of the girls I knew also proclaimed pink as their favorite color.

As I wrote this poem, I thought, What do I know as pink? The cheeks of the dolls I played with blushed pink. My favorite princess costume was pink. At a gender reveal, at the sight of pink, people exclaim, “It’s a girl!” When so many five-year-old girls’ favorite color is pink, are others pushing pink to be their favorite color, either directly or indirectly?